Zutara Forever
by Kaidawater
Summary: For all the KataraxZuko lovers out there. Zutara one shots. From romance to humor, drama to tragedies. We've got them all! :
1. Chapter 1 Face of the Enemy

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender**

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**Face of the Enemy**

They stood apart in an open field on the edge of a forest. The sun was slowly setting in the background but neither took notice. The wind blew softly as both fighters took their stance. The fight began.

To her, his face had once been the face of the enemy. Of course now there was a greater enemy to confront– Azula and the Fire Lord himself– but the man still fired upon her. Flames came at her left and right. Katara ducked and dodged and bent water in the way to cease the fire. He wouldn't win, not this time. She wouldn't allow it. She came back with a water whip. Rather weak for one of her attacks, yes, but she wanted him to underestimate her. He easily fried the water; steam rising into the air. Thinking she had no more water, he quickly shot more fireballs at her, catching her off-guard by the speed, but he missed every shot.

_You may be quick,_ she thought, _but I have the element of surprise on my side._

Without his noticing, she pulled a small amount of water from the grass and froze it in her palm to make three little icicles. She continued dodging the fireballs the best she could and stealthily threw the tiny ice daggers at him. Katara flinched when one of them penetrated Zuko's leg and the slight delay in her movement allowed a fireball to graze her shoulder. Since the firing had stopped, she took the downtime to heal the burn. It was getting late and the moon was rising so the healing was quick.

As she stood up, she saw that Zuko was standing there, waiting. The icicle had been removed and a small trickle of blood dripped down his leg. But he didn't attack. Not until she was on her feet again. He shot streams of fire at her this time which she blocked with a wall of ice. When the wall shattered, Katara coated her arms in water that extended out past her hands. She attacked him with the extensions at a good distance where she could hit him and block his attacks. But Zuko caught on to her tactic and copied it on his arms with the fire.

They both whipped their respective element at one another until it was a tangled mess of diminishing fire and evaporating water. Just then, Zuko cleared the fire and charged Katara. Surprised by the move, Katara dropped the water just before Zuko smashed into her. The two of them fell hard on the ground; Zuko on top of Katara, holding her down so she could not attack. Then he kissed her.

And she kissed back. It sent shivers up her back. To her, Zuko had once been the face of the enemy. Now, she cared about him more than anyone else. He had once been obsessed with regaining his honor. Now, he was helping the Avatar defeat his own father. He had once been arrogant and uncaring. Now, he always put Katara before himself. He had once kept to himself. Now, he opened up to her and became friends with the rest of the Gaang. He was a changed man. As his uncle had once said to him, "You are going through a metamorphosis my nephew." The irony lied in the fact that a "Painted Lady" is a type of butterfly. It was as if Katara was the one to change him.

Katara wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close, deepening the kiss. After a minute, Zuko pulled away and gave her one last peck on the lips that gave her butterflies. He stood up and smiled, offering her his hand. She smiled back and grabbed it, pulling herself up. Zuko then playfully shot a fire ball past her arm, missing, but barely. Katara glared at Zuko, who had a teasing smirk plastered on his face. A sly smile crossed her's as well and the sparring practice began once again.

Fire and water flew through the air in harmony like a work of art. The reds and blues mixed and intertwined; peaceful, healing, yet fierce water and destructive, dangerous, yet passionate fire. Like yin and yang, two opposites in perfect balance.

Katara spun to the left to avoid the flames coming at her. She couldn't help but smile. She cared about Zuko so much. Why didn't she realize it sooner? In the crystal catacombs they had connected so easily, so quickly. She was even willing to use up the spirit water on him.

_But then he turned on me_, she remembered. Anger boiled up in her. She pulled a large amount of water from the grass around her. In the dark, as it was now getting pretty late, she looked very eerie; dead plants surrounding her, the moon shining down, an angry look on her face. The scary side of Katara was chilling to Zuko. He let his guard down and Katara shoved the water in a wave directly at him.

The wave pounded into Zuko, knocking him to the ground. He sat there a moment, startled by her sudden mood change.

"Katara?"

She snapped out of her angry daze at the sound of his voice.

"Oh, Zuko! I'm so sorry!" She ran over to him, her hands glowing, ready to heal.

_How could I be so stupid! I could have really hurt him._

"It's fine. I'm alright, Katara," he said, standing up. He grabbed her hands and she let the water drop. "Are you ok?" He was truly worried about her.

"Y-yeah. I was just thinking about before," she whispered. Zuko pulled her into a hug; he knew exactly what she was talking about and would do anything to take it back.

"I'm sorry. I will never do that to you again." He held her tighter. He had felt terrible about it; even now it pained him when the subject was brought up. He had been so caught up in regaining his honor, he overlooked everything else.

_Katara. How could I have ever overlooked you?_

But she forgave him. When he first came to the Western Air Temple, she had been livid; ready to beat him down with everything she had. But he did everything in his power to make it up to her. In the meantime, he fell for her; hard.

And she had been drawn to him too. She couldn't quite figure it out at the time: how she flirted with him when he had her mother's necklace; how easily she put her trust in him back in the catacombs; how she had the hardest time holding the grudge against him. But one morning, everything became clear to her. Zuko had been training with Aang near the edge of the temple. Aang hit him too hard and Zuko fell off the edge, over the cliff. Katara's heart began racing and tears surfaced. She immediately ran to the edge and pulled the ocean water up like a spout, Zuko riding the top. She had gone from threatening his life to saving it in a matter of days. And she had never been so scared in her life.

Katara smiled. Through his stubbornness, aggression, control issues, and anger, he was still perfect to her.

"It's getting late," he whispered. "We should start heading back to camp." She nodded and released him from the hug. He then turned and went to pick up the bag that held two apples for them to eat on the walk back. Katara waited where they had been standing.

_He's so wonderful,_ she thought, lifting some water from the ground. They were always teasing each other; Katara usually getting the worst of it. She was going to get him back.

_I don't know what I would do without him._ Zuko turned and Katara was preparing to splash him in the face.

_I think I may even– _Her thought was cut short by a crackling sound and a flash of light. Tears welled up in her eyes and she dropped the water as she watched Zuko collapse to the ground.

"Zuko!" she shouted and ran over to him when he hit the ground. She dropped to his side and supported him. He was still alive but she could tell she was losing him. Azula stepped from the woods.

"Awe, how cute. Zuzu has a girlfriend. But the water peasant? Come on Zuko, I think you can do better than that," she said in a bitter voice. Katara glared at the Fire Princess through streaming tears.

"Since you are now 100 traitor– helping the Avatar and apparently backstabbing Mai– Father gave me permission to kill you," Azula said very nonchalant. She prepared another attack, but right as she was about to fire, she froze. She couldn't move her muscles and the energy was building up inside her. Fear shone in her eyes. Since she was unable to release the energy, the lighting backfired, exploding in her face. She was blown backward and crashed into a tree. When she tried to stand, she was still unable to move.

"W-what's going on?" she asked aloud. She didn't like not being in control. She saw Katara slowly stand, her hands fixed in front of her face, vertical to the ground. She moved her hands up and Azula's body rose from the ground.

"Answer me peasant!" Azula shouted. Katara thrust her hand to the side and Azula crashed into a tree. Katara was blinded by fury but responded rather calmly.

"It's called bloodbending," she said through gritted teeth. She flung her arms side to side, Azula's body following her every movement. From tree to tree she hit violently until finally Katara slammed her into the ground and released her hold. Azula slowly began to try and get up but Katara pulled the water from the surrounding grass and bent it over at Azula, smacking her back onto the ground. She then coated her in the water and froze it; only her head was open to the air. Katara couldn't kill her. She didn't have it in her to do such a thing, even to Azula. She left her lying unconscious and turned her attention back to Zuko.

"Zuko," she cried, holding him again. His heart was beating unusually slow. "It will be ok, don't worry. It will be ok."

"I know it will. Katara, I've restored my honor where it belongs. I've helped the Avatar. I've earned forgiveness from my uncle. I've learned what love is." He smiled weakly up at her. "I've done what I needed to accomplish."

"Don't talk like that, you'll be ok," she said. He reached up to wipe some of her tears but pulled back and winced in pain. Katara immediately got water and began healing him.

"Katara," he whispered. "I love you." He closes his eyes. His breathing stopped.

She began to cry uncontrollably and put as much energy as she could into her healing.

"Zuko! Zuko don't leave me. Zuko!" she repeated as she ran out of energy to heal. She didn't know how long she had been healing him, but it felt like an eternity; an eternity that she didn't want to end unless he woke up. She looked down at his pale face and cried harder than ever. Completely drained, she fell down next to him and held him, her eyes clenched shut.

"I love you too much. Don't go," she whispered. She held his head with one hand and stroked his far shoulder with the other. Her eyes opened slowly as she felt a hand cover hers. Her face lit up when she saw Zuko's eyes open and a small smile cross his face. She buried her face in his chest and cried out of joy. The two laid there, arms around each other. Zuko was alive.

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**I just wanted to let everybody know that these first two one shots are based off this picture by neurosylum on Deviant art. ****I also entered this one shot in ****AnimantX's contest on Deviant art.**

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**I also wanted to thank you for reading! I really hope you like them! Review and let me know what you think needs to be improved and whatnot. Much appreciated!**

**Kaida**

**Also, check out my Avatar Fanfic, Moonlighting.**


	2. Chapter 2 Not What You'd Expect

**Disclaimer: I have not, do not, and will not ever own Avatar: The Last Airbender**

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**Not What You'd Expect**

Katara hummed while she watered the garden with her waterbending. Iroh suggested she take care of the plants in order to calm her. They had only been at the Western Air Temple a week or two and he could tell she was slightly stressed, what with Toph's constant sarcasm, Sokka's overprotectiveness about her and Zuko,– _Like anything is going on between us! _She thought, not fully convincing herself– Zuko himself and his anger problems, and Aang who wouldn't leave her alone. The gardening had been working; she felt much better lately. Just then Zuko started to walk toward her. He smiled at her, something he'd recently been doing more often. She smiled back.

_He has a wonderful smile, _she thought, her mind wandering. Then she pulled it to an abrupt stop.

_Wait! Why am I smiling at him? He's just going to betray us again. We're still enemies, right? _

She wasn't sure if she truly believed what she was thinking, but let it slide and turned her attention back to the white dragon bushes and their need for water. Zuko was still approaching but she didn't want to seem too interested in what he had to say.

She was sprinkling the water on the flowers like rain when she heard a crackle of lightning and Zuko groan. He was right next to her and stumbling backward.

"No!" Katara shouted. He was going to collapse. Tears welled up in her eyes as she watched him fall. Katara dropped the water and ran over to him.

"Please be alright," she whispered worriedly to herself as reached Zuko's scorched body. She stood over his body, out cold(not dead, just unconscious).

"Zuko!" she screamed. She knelt down beside him and reached toward his side. She lifted up a drooping flower.

"Just look at my poor panda lilies! You crushed them!" she shouted.

"Hey! Look at me when I talk to you!" She slapped his arm clearly not realizing he was unconscious.

"You destroyed my southing garden! How am I supposed to get calm now?!"

Azula just stood in the background, dumbfounded.

_Right. Definitely enemies, _Katara thought.

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**Sorry it was so short. I thought I'd just get to the point for now. I may improve it later. Review please! :**

**Kaida**

**Also, check out my Avatar Fanfic, Moonlighting.**


	3. Chapter 3 He Had

**He Had**

She was meaningless to him.

He had seen her as a peasant.

He had pursued her and her friends across the world.

He had teamed up with pirates and fought against her.

He had been the blue spirit.

He had saved her friend.

He had found her mother's necklace.

He had used her to get to the Avatar.

He had flirted with her.

He had plotted against her.

He had viewed her as an enemy.

He had snuck into the Spirit Oasis.

He had almost been defeated by her.

He had risen with the sun.

He had fought her with all his power.

He had knocked her out cold.

He had taken her friend.

He had been saved by her.

He had failed.

He had been on the run from the Fire Nation like her.

He had learned the story of Oma and Shu

He had saved a young boy.

He had missed his mother just as she had.

He had a common enemy with her.

He had attacked Azula with her and her friends.

He had gone on a date with another girl.

He had saved her friend's pet.

He had questioned what side he was on.

He had opened up to her.

He had shared his deepest feelings with her.

He had almost been rid of his scar because if her.

He had attacked her when she thought he had changed.

He had betrayed her.

He had realized where he belonged.

He had joined her side.

He had endured her hatred toward him.

He had smiled when she appeared in the doorway.

He had withstood her threats.

He had helped save her father.

He had begged her for forgiveness.

He had fallen for her.

He had been under her watchful eye.

He had to prove himself.

He had finally earned her forgiveness.

He had spilled his feelings to her.

She meant the world to him.

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And now he held her in his arms.

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Also, check out my Avatar Fanfic, Moonlighting.


	4. Chapter 4 Top 20 Zutara Songs

**Top 20 Zutara songs**

20. "Savin' Me" by Nickleback

19. "We are Broken" by Paramore

18. "Heaven"by DJ Sammy

17. "Without You" by Rosario Dawson and Adam Pascal

16. "What I've Done" by Linkin Park

15. "Touchdown Turnaround" by Hellogoodbye

14. "Hero/Heroine" by Boys like Girls

13. "What I've been Looking For" by Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron

12. "Never Too Late" by Three Days Grace

11. "As Long as You're Mine" by Idina Menzel and Leo Norbert Butz

10. "Listen to Your Heart" by D.H.T.

9. "Brave" by Gavin Mikhail

8. "Cold" by Crossfade

7. "Every Time We Touch" by Cascada

6. "Somebody Like You" by Keith Urban

5. "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flats

4. "Burnin' Up" by The Jonas Brothers

3. "I Won't Say I'm in Love" by Susan Egan

2. "Chemicals React" by Aly and AJ

1. "Come What May" by Nicole Kidman and Ewan Mcgregor

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**This is the suggested playlist for Zutara fans. Different song on the list hit different aspects of the Zutara relationship, from forgiving the past to being together forever. :**

**If you have any ideas for other songs that you think will make the top 20, please comment and I'll listen to it and slide it in where suited. If you'd like to suggest any other order, feel free! I don't mind in the least.**

**Note: These are a matter of opinion so please no bashing. **

**Also, check out my Avatar Fanfic, Moonlighting.**


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